Will more people take the stairs if they act as a giant piano? Will more people use public recycling bins if it also becomes an arcade game? Fun Theory shows that you can make the world better and have more fun at the same time.
The Fun Theory
Friday, December 11th, 2009Ben Fry and GE Visualize…
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Darren Firth
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Make Something Cool Everyday
Sunday, November 15th, 2009
Art that speaks to the subconscious.
Visualized: Choose Your Own Adventure Books
Sunday, November 15th, 2009
Definitely one of the most intriguing items to come out of the 80′s were the Choose Your Own Adventure books. As tacky as they were, it was a very interesting effort to make books more “interactive.”As a kid, they offered countless hours of entertainment. I would read them over and over again so that I could figure out every possible ending. Recently, Christian Swineheart put together a very elegant visualization and analysis of the beloved CYOA books.
NyTimes – Interactive Narrative about Jobs
Friday, November 6th, 2009
Statistics can be boring. It’s crucial that we have them in news articles to put facts behind the story but I always though reciting numbers in a paragraph is such a waste. Statistical data takes a lot of work to generate but when you just list the numbers, it’s a bore to readers who view the data more as a necessity than part of the story. The New York Times shows us again that the numbers themselves can be the story.
Update: Find how people like you have been affected by the recession.
Cell Size Visualization
Sunday, November 1st, 2009Even after graduating with a Sc. B in biology, sometimes even the most conceptually simple things go unnoticed – for example, the size of a single cell. Sure, we discuss distances and sizes in nanometers, but nothing is as convincing or clear as a great visualization.
For those of you who always wanted to learn some biology but were intimidated, Learn.Genetics from the University of Utah is full of great educational multimedia. Go get your hands dirty!
Syringe Redesign
Saturday, October 24th, 2009It is said that a good design/idea is often the simplest one – but they also have to be simple in implementation.
10/GUI
Saturday, October 24th, 200910/GUI is a proposal for a new type of human computer interface that has been getting a lot of publicity on design blogs recently. It offers a unique perspective on both the hardware and software of future computer interaction.
I think that it elegantly solves the problem of body/neck strain that would undoubtedly exist with minority report types of touch interfaces. I am not as convinced by the software solution even though it is creative. It seems that expose on Macs seems to solve all the problems that they present already. Luckily, the hardware and software proposals can easily be separated.
I also couldn’t help but think that that Apple’s recently released magic mouse is definite a step towards this direction.
Information Is Beautiful
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
David McCandless is a “data and visual journalist” based in London. I think he makes some very compelling visualizations. More often than not, I see information designs that dress up the information but don’t particularly make a concept any clearer or easy to understand. McCandless has really done a great job to clearly illustrate a particular point with his work. I especially like his graphic about the safety of the HPV vaccine.